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AND    THE 


^THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT 


TO    THE 


Constitution  of  the  United  States. 


A  PAPER 

HE  AD.  BEFORE  THE  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 
TUESDAY  EVENING,  JANUARY  15,  1884, 

BY 

WILLIAM  BROSS,  A.M., 

Lieutenant  Governor  of  Illinois,  iSbj 


CHICAGO: 

JANSEN,   MeCLURG  &  CO. 

1884. 


ILLINOIS 


AND    THE 


THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT 


TO    THE 


Constitution  of  the  United  States. 


A  PAPER 

READ  BEFORE  THE  CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 
TUESDAY  EVENING,  JANUARY  15,  1884, 

BY 

WILLIAM  BROSS,  A.M., 

Lieutenant  Governor  of  Illinois, 


CHICAGO: 
JANSEN,  MeCLURG  &  CO., 

1884. 


CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

140  AND  142  DEARBORN  AVENUE, 

Chicago,  January  17th,  1884. 
Hon.   Wm.  Brass. 

DEAR  SIR  :  /  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  held  on  the 
loth  inst.,  on  motion  of  Gen.  A.  L.  Chetlain,  the  thanks  of  the 
Society  were  unanimously  tendered  to  you,  for  your  valuable 
historical  paper,  entitled,  "  The  Thirteenth  Constitutional 
Amendment  in  the  Illinois  Legislature  in  1865,"  and  the  re- 
quest was  made  that  you  furnish  the  Society  a  copy  of  the 
same  for  publication. 

Very  Respectfully, 

ALBERT  D.  HAGER, 

Secretary. 


THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 


"  SEC.  1.   NEITHER  SLAVERY  NOR  INVOLUNTARY  SEHVITUDE,   EXCEPT 

AS  A  PUNISHMENT  FOR  CRIME  WHEREOF  THE  PARTY  SHALL  HAVE  BEEN 
DULY  CONVICTED,  SHALL  EXIST  WITHIN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  OR  ANY 
PLACE  SUBJECT  TO  THEIR  JURISDICTION. 

"  SEC.  2.  CONGRESS  SHALL  HAVE  POWER  TO  ENFORCE  THIS  ARTICLE 

BY   APPROPRIATE   LEGISLATION." 


At  the  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society, 
Tuesday  evening,  Jan.  15,  1884,  Ex. -Lieut.  Governor 
William  Bross  read  the  following  paper  : 

History  records  eras  of  marked  and  commanding  interest  in 
the  progress  of  mankind.  From  them  nations  take  their  de- 
parture to  a  more  free  and  vigorous  life.  Various  are  the  causes 
which  produce  them,  and  they  are  often  many  years,  it  may  be 
ages,  in  working  out  the  grand  results  which,  culminating  in  a 
single  day,  make  it  ever  after  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  in  the 
annals  of  the  race.  Such  was  the  15th  of  June  in  the  year  of 
grace  1215,  when  the  clergy,  the  barons,  and  the  freemen  of 
England,  extorted  from  King  John  that  great  charter  of  human 
rights  whose  principles  live  to-day  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  in  that  of  every  State  in  this  Union.  They 
are  the  vital  elements  of  our  free  institutions,  giving  to  every 
man  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  only  for 
crime,  and  in  the  judicial  execution  of  those  laws,  can  he  be 
deprived  of  his  property,  his  liberty,  or  his  life.  Such,  too,  was 


M151200 


4  THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

the  Fourth  of  July,  1776,  and  such  a  marked  event  also  was  the 
19fch  of  July,  1787,  when  the  ordinance  was  passed  prohibiting 
slavery  in  all  the  Northwestern  Territories.  That  remarkable 
enactment  was  passed  unanimously  by  the  representatives  of  the 
old  thirteen  States,  in  five  of  which  slavery  then  existed.  To  that 
the  great  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin,  owe 
their  freedom  from  "  the  sum  of  all  villainies,"  and  virtually  also 
the  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  Missouri.  The 
territory  of  which  they  are  composed  then  belonged  to  Spain. 

And,  again,  to  that  charter  of  freedom  granted  at  Runny- 
mede  by  King  John  in  1215  can  be  traced  directly  the  submission 
of  the  thirteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  Congress  to 
the  several  States,  abolishing  slavery  in  all  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  Union  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1865.  It  was 
passed  the  day  before,  but  it  was  not  enrolled  and  formally  sub- 
mitted to  the  States  till  Wednesday,  February  1.  The  morn- 
ing of  that  day,  it  having  passed  the  evening  before,  the  Re- 
publican papers  all  through  the  nation  had  the  most  enthusiastic 
editorials,  marking  the  day  as  one  of  the  most  glorious  in  the 
history  of  the  Republic. 

THAT  THIRTEENTH   AMENDMENT, 

when  adopted  by  the  States,  as  it  surely  would  be,  "  proclaimed 
liberty  throughout  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  Be- 
tween the  passage  of  the  grand  old  ordinance  of  1787.  for  which 
the  five  slave  States  voted  unanimously,  and  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  in  1789,  the  leaders  of  the  slave  power  had  shown 
fears  for  the  safety  of  the  accursed  institution,  and  they  demand- 
ed and  obtained  a  recognition  of  it  and  a  tacit  consent  not  only 
to  its  continuance,  but  that  their  Representatives  in  Congress 
should  be  increased  by  three-fifths  of  the  slaves  themselves. 
Had  the  Northern  States  demanded  an  equal  representation  for 
their  cattle,  the  claim  would  have  been  equally  absurd.  But  at 
the  time  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  believed  this  compro- 
mise the  best  that  could  be  made,  vainly  hoping  that  slavery 
would  die  out  amid  the  blaze  of  Christian  light  and  knowledge 
— in  fact,  that  it  would  miserably  perish  by  its  own  intrinsic 
rottenness.  Vain,  delusive  hope.  By  its  arrogance  and  fiendish 
energy  for  three  score  and  ten  years  it  had  seduced  a  large  party 


THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT.  5 

in  the  free  States  to  support  whatever  iniquity  it  dared  to  com- 
mit ;  it  had  virtually  stamped  out  the  right  of  petition  ;  it  had 
passed  laws  by  which  every  man  in  the  free  States  was  made  a 
sleuth-hound  to  hunt  down  the  poor  slave  when  fleeing  for 
refuge  under  the  British  flag  ;  it  had  struck  down  with 
brutal  bludgeon  in  the  very  halls  of  Congress,  one  of  the  ablest 
and  noblest  Senators  of  the  Republic — till  at  last  it  had  thrust  a 
skeleton  into  almost  every  house  in  the  land  during  four  years 
of  wicked,  causeless  rebellion.  The  bloody  and  then  nearly  suc- 
cessful and  righteous  war  to  put  it  down,  their  National  Con- 
vention— for  it  was  virtually  theirs — in  this  very  city  of  Chicago, 
with  an  effrontery  and  fiendish  malignity  scarcely  equaled  in  all 
history,  declared  in  1864  to  be  a  failure ;  and  when  on  the  first  day 
of  February,  1865,  Congress  submitted  to  the  States  the  amend- 
ment of  freedom,  can  it  be  a  wonder  that  the  whole  nation,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  Lakes  down  the  Father 
of  Waters  to  the  Gulf,  rang  with  thankful  shouts  of  victory  and 
freedom  ?  That  morning 

THE  CHICAGO  TKIBUNE, 

always  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  venomous  treason  of  its  Cop- 
perhead neighbor,  said  : 

uThq  last  shackle  is  gone  from  the  limbs  of  Freedom.  There  is  henceforth 
no  shelter  for  the  oppressor  in  all  the  land.  The  man-seller  and  the 
woman-whipper,  the  negro-driver  and  the  man-hunter,  may  read  their 
doom  gone  forth  in  the  record  of  yesterday,  which  will  shine  on  the 
page  of  all  time  with  the  greatest  events  that  have  blessed  our  race.  In 
the  halls  where  pro-slavery,  rancor,  and  hate  through  long  years  held 
Liberty  bound  and  gagged  to  be  buffeted  by  her  enemies,  Freedom  has 
been  decreed,  and  a  glad  nation  comes  rejoicing  to  its  remotest  bounds. 
Liberty  is  the  law  of  the  land.  No  barbarism  out  of  the  past  will  threat- 
en a  nation  whose  law-givers  have  dared  to  hold  fast  to  the  primal  law  of 
human  progress— human  rights. 

"  This  gigantic  stride  in  our  progress  towards  national  purity,  uni- 
versal liberty  and  righteous  peace  will  be  hailed  with  deep  exultation 
and  religious  gratitude  by  our  liberty  loving  American  people.  We 
congratulate  the  friends  of  Freedom  in  the  present  Congress  that  they 
have  redeemed  the  fame  of  that  body.  They  have  removed,  so  far  as 
they  had  the  power,  the  last  moral  stain  from  our  National  escutcheon — 
the  only  disgrace  from  our  flag." 

The  little  corner  that  still  held  out  in  what  Brownlow  called 
"  Jeff  Davis'  ungodly  dominions  "  heard  in  that  shout  the  knell 
of  doom.  Only  a  few  weeks  more,  and  Sherman's  brave  boys 
crushed  out  the  last  vestige  of  the  rebellion. 


6  THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

It  is  to  the  part  taken  by  Illinois  in  confirming  this  glorious 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  that  I  wish 
specially  to  call  your  attention.  The  news  of  its  passage  was 
received  in  Springfield  on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  February 
with  an  all-absorbing  sense  of  its  vast  importance  and  the 
solemn  duties  it  imposed  upon  the  State.  This  feeling  was  in- 
tensified when  a  message  was  received  from  Gov.  Oglesby,  whose 
stalwart  system  will  carry  a  rebel  bullet  to  his  dying  day, 
officially  informing  the  legislature  of  the  passage  of  the  amend- 
ment of  freedom,  and  asking  its  immediate  adoption. 

In  his  message  the  Governor,  among  other  things,  said  : 

"  Let  Illinois  be  the  first  State  in  the  Union  to  ratify  by  the  act  of  her 
Legislature  this  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Uuited 
States.  It  is  just,  it  is  humane,  it  is  constitutional,  it  is  right  to  do  so." 

In  another  paragraph  he  says  in  regard  to  its  ratification  : 
14  Let  us  do  so,  and  do  so  now." 

Mr.  McConnell  moved  that  the  communication  be  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Mack  the  rules  were  suspended  and  he  pre- 
sented the  following  joint  resolution  : 

"  WHEREAS,  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  proposed  to  the 
several  States  the  following  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution, viz, : 

"  'SEC.  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall 
exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

"  'SEC.  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appro- 
priate legislation.' 

« '  Therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  concurring 
herein,  that  the  State  of  Illinois,  by  its  Legislature,  ratifies  and  assents 
to  said  amendment." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Mack,  the  rules  were  suspended,  the  reso- 
lution read,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Peters,  the  Senate  adjourned  till  2  o'clock. 

After  some  unimportant  business  in  the  afternoon,  the  Com- 
mittee reported,  and  Mr.  Mack  called  up  the  joint  resolution 
above  given. 

Here  speeches  were  made  against  the  measure,  by  Judge  Green, 
of  Alexander,  Mr.  Cohrs,  and  some  other  Democrats,  merely,  as 
they  said,  to  put  themselves  on  the  record,  and,  as  all  understood 
them,  to  maintain  their  consistency.  But  all  were  in  a  very  kindly 
spirit,  and  made  no  factious  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the 


THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT.  7 

amendment.  The  Republicans,  with  a  solemn  sense  of  the  re- 
sponsibility they  were  assuming,  remained  satisfied  to  record 
their  votes  for  it,  while  Senator  McConnell,  the  Nestor  of  the 
Senate,  and  for  a  third  of  a  century  a  leading  member  of  the 
Democratic  party,  made  an  able,  eloquent,  and  intensely  patri- 
otic speech  in  its  favor. 

Mr.  Van  Deveer  moved  that  it  lie  on  the  table,  and  be  made 
the  special  order  for  to-morrow  morning  at  10  o'clock.  This 
was  decided  in  the  negative — yeas,  11;  nays,  12. 

Mr.  Mack  then  moved  the  previous  question.  The  yeas  and 
nays  being  demanded,  it  was  decided  in  the  affirmative — yeas, 
15;  nays,  9. 

The  question  then  being,  u  Will  the  Senate  adopt  the  resolu- 
tion ?"  the  yeas  and  nays  were  as  follows:  In  the  affirmative — 
Adams,  Allen,  Bushnell,  Eastman,  Green  of  Marion,  Lansing, 
Lindsay,  Mack,  Mason,  McConnell,  Metcalf,  Peters,  Richards, 
Scofield,  Strain,  Ward,  Webster,  Worcester— yeas,  18. 

Those  voting  in  the  negative  were  Cohrs,  Green  of  Alexan- 
der, Hunter.  Riley,  Van  Deveer,  Wescott, — 6. 

Eighteen  to  six  is  surely  a  very  handsome  majorit}'. 

The  House  had  also  before  them  the  message  of  Gov.  Oglesby, 
but  on  receiving  the  joint  resolution  from  the  Senate  it  was 
taken  up.  Mr.  McCoy  moved  the  previous  question,  and  it  was 
decided  in  the  affirmative— yeas,  55;  nays,  20. 

So  the  main  question  was  ordered,  and  the  joint  resolution 
was  adopted — yeas,  48;  nays,  28. 

Thus,  so  far  as  Illinois  is  concerned, 

THE   THIBTEENTH   AMENDMENT 

became  an  integral  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  The  dry  details  of  the  official  record  copied  above  give 
no  sign  of  the  deep  solemnity  which  accompanied  the  passage 
of  the  resolution.  The  whole  history  of  the  struggles  of  man- 
kind for  freedom  through  all  the  ages  seemed  pictured  on  the 
minds  of  the  members.  Especially  did  visions  of  the  dear  ones 
sleeping  their  last  sleep  that  the  Union  might  live,  that  by  this 
sublime  act  this  dark,  foul  blot  might  be  wiped  from  her 


8  THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

proud  escutcheon,  appear  to  drive  out  every  other  thought. 
Men  spoke  in  whispers,  as  if  standing  among  the  tombs  of  the 
past,  and  before  them  was  the  aogel  of  light  and  liberty  point- 
ing to  the  glorious  future  of  the  Republic.  The  few  who  opposed 
were  merely  maintaining  their  consistency,  and  in  their  inmost 
souls  were  glad  that  this  day  would  mark  another  forward  and 
substantial  movement  in  the  progress  of  the  race.  At  the  distance 
of  nearly  ninetet  n  years,  some — doubtless  all — of  the  men  who 
voted  for  this  great  measure  of  freedom  regard  it  as  the  most 
important  act  of  their  lives.  I  certainly  do — signing  it  for  the 
people  of  Illinois  as  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate.  That  in 
all  the  future  it  will  stand  out  as  a  marked  event  in  human 
progress  there  cannot  be  a  particle  of  doubt. 

A  resolution  adopting  the  amendment  was  passed  by  the  other 
States  in  the  following  order :  Rhode  Island,  Michigan,  Mary- 
land, New  York,  West  Virginia,  Maine,  Kansas,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Ohio,  Missouri,  Nevada,  Indiana,  Louis- 
iana, Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Vermont,  Tennessee,  Arkansas, 
Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  North 
Carolina,  and  Georgia. 

The  18th  of  December,  1865,  the  Secretary  of  State  issued  a 
proclamation,  stating  that  twenty-seven  of  the  thirty-six  States, 
a  constitutional  majority  of  three-fourths,  having  assented  to 
and  ratified  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  it  was  thereafter  to  be 
a  binding  provision  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  foot  of  the  slave  can  therefore  nevermore  pollute  the  soil 
of  America.  And  let  it  go  down  for  all  future  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Republic,  that  in  this  glorious  achievement,  the 
grand  result  of  four  years  of  bloody,  fratricidal  war,  made  by 
the  slaveholders  themselves,  Illinois  stands  first  among  all  her 
sister  States.  Our  children  in  all  the  distant  future  may  well 
point  to  it  with  honest,  patriotic  pride.  With  unwavering 
trust  in  the  guidance  and  the  protection  of  Israel's  Grod,  let 
them — let  all  Americans — ever  cherish  the  sublime  aspiration 
of  Webster,  "Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  in- 
separable." 

NOTE.— The  Historical  Society  will  send  this  paper  to  their  correspondents 
Those  of  my  personal  friends  who  receive  it,  will  please  accept  it  with  my  compli- 
ments. W.  B. 


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